The Nigerian government has expressed reservations over WhatsApp’s updated privacy policy, vowing to engage Facebook, the owners, on the perceived gray areas in the policy.
The Technical Assistant (Information Technology) to the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Femi Adeluyi, stated at the weekend that the attention of his principal, Dr Isa Pantami, had been drawn to the new privacy policy of the WhatsApp messaging application.
According to the policy, WhatsApp will share information about the users on its platform with the parent company Facebook, as well as other sister companies.
The information includes “user phone numbers, transaction data, service-related information, information on how you interact with others (including businesses) when using our Services, mobile device information, your IP address.”
WhatsApp also indicated that users, who refuse to accept the revised privacy policy, risk not being able to use the service any longer.
Adeluyi said the Federal Government released the Nigeria Data Protection Regulations in 2019 and was committed to upholding the data privacy of Nigerians.
“We are also aware that the European region is exempt from the provisions of the updated policy and it is also being challenged in a number of countries,” the minister added.
According to the aide, the minister has, therefore, directed the National Information Technology Development Agency, as the regulator of the information technology sector, to engage Facebook to understand the processes, level of security, etc of the data of Nigerian users to ensure that policies proposed for Nigeria strictly adhere to the provisions of NDPR.
He assured Nigerians that the Federal Government would give uttermost attention to the privacy of their data, in line with the NDPR and the National Digital Economy Policy for a digital Nigeria.
NITDA had last week urged Nigerians to be wary of the WhatsApp updated policy to avoid becoming a digital colony.
